Policy driven distributed data resiliency

ABSTRACT

A data resiliency layer provides manageable data resiliency policy options for email related applications. Through one or more APIs such applications are enabled to query whether a data resiliency policy is satisfied for a given mailbox or database at a given point in time. Email related applications may consume this information to modify their behavior such as to wait, repeat, or fail the actions at hand to the point where data committal is guaranteed to a degree specified by the data resiliency policy.

BACKGROUND

Electronic mail (email) use has become an integral part of people'sdaily lives. Many forms of communication, personal or business, havebeen replaced by email exchanges. Emails not only contain textualexchanges, but many modern email systems enable integration ofmulti-modal communications with emails. Thus, increasing amounts oftextual, audio, video, and other forms of communication data is storedin individual mailboxes and central data storage facilities as part ofthe vast email exchange networks.

In addition to local replication, email related data is also replicatedcommonly in different locations. With hard disk sizes reaching toTerabytes, traditional raid solutions are rendered impractical.Moreover, geographical, political, and technical disturbances requiringgeo-replication of data, email data is frequently replicatedasynchronously to multiple physical locations in order to ensure dataresiliency under various failure conditions. With the asynchronousnature of such data resiliency solutions comes the challenge as to howan application that pushes new data into email repository can ensure thenew content has been committed to sufficient copies to guarantee dataresiliency within the existing deployment.

Organizations and service providers typically have data resiliencypolicies (e.g. how frequently, in how many locations, and which portionsof the data is to be replicated). Data replication solutions (e.g. logshipping, hardware based replication solutions, etc.) commonly workindependently from applications that put new content into mailbox (e.g.archival services, legal search tools, import/export-mailbox tools,etc.), and these two are unaware of each other.

SUMMARY

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This summary is not intended to exclusively identify keyfeatures or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is itintended as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subjectmatter.

Embodiments are directed to providing a data resiliency layer to makingavailable manageable data resiliency policy options for email relatedapplications. Through one or more Application Programming Interfaces(APIs) such applications are enabled to query whether a data resiliencypolicy is satisfied for a given mailbox or database at a given point intime. Email related applications may consume this information to modifytheir behavior such as to wait, repeat, or fail the actions at hand tothe point where data committal is guaranteed to a degree specified bythe data resiliency policy.

These and other features and advantages will be apparent from a readingof the following detailed description and a review of the associateddrawings. It is to be understood that both the foregoing generaldescription and the following detailed description are explanatory anddo not restrict aspects as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating interactions between anemail related application, mailbox, and data resiliency layer accordingto embodiments for implementing data resiliency policy;

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating major physical components ofan email system where a data resiliency layer according to embodimentsmay be used to notify an email related application about satisfaction ofa data resiliency policy during operations;

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating major software components ofan email system where a data resiliency layer according to embodimentsmay be used to notify an email related application about satisfaction ofa data resiliency policy during operations;

FIG. 4 is a networked environment, where a system according toembodiments may be implemented;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example computing operating environment,where embodiments may be implemented; and

FIG. 6 illustrates a logic flow diagram for notifying an applicationabout compliance with a data resiliency policy according to embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As briefly described above, a data resiliency layer may be implementedthrough one or more APIs such that email related applications areenabled to query whether a data resiliency policy is satisfied for agiven mailbox or database at a given point in time. In the followingdetailed description, references are made to the accompanying drawingsthat form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustrationsspecific embodiments or examples. These aspects may be combined, otheraspects may be utilized, and structural changes may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Thefollowing detailed description is therefore not to be taken in alimiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined by theappended claims and their equivalents.

While the embodiments will be described in the general context ofprogram modules that execute in conjunction with an application programthat runs on an operating system on a personal computer, those skilledin the art will recognize that aspects may also be implemented incombination with other program modules.

Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, datastructures, and other types of structures that perform particular tasksor implement particular abstract data types. Moreover, those skilled inthe art will appreciate that embodiments may be practiced with othercomputer system configurations, including hand-held devices,multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumerelectronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and comparablecomputing devices. Embodiments may also be practiced in distributedcomputing environments where tasks are performed by remote processingdevices that are linked through a communications network. In adistributed computing environment, program modules may be located inboth local and remote memory storage devices.

Embodiments may be implemented as a computer-implemented process(method), a computing system, or as an article of manufacture, such as acomputer program product or computer readable media. The computerprogram product may be a computer storage medium readable by a computersystem and encoding a computer program that comprises instructions forcausing a computer or computing system to perform example process(es).The computer-readable storage medium can for example be implemented viacomputer-readable memory device including: one or more of a volatilecomputer memory, a non-volatile memory, a hard drive, a flash drive, afloppy disk, or a compact disk, and comparable media.

Throughout this specification, the term “platform” may be a combinationof software and hardware components for managing email systems and datareplication for email systems. Examples of platforms include, but arenot limited to, a hosted service executed over a plurality of servers,an application executed on a single server, and comparable systems. Theterm “server” generally refers to a computing device executing one ormore software programs typically in a networked environment. However, aserver may also be implemented as a virtual server (software programs)executed on one or more computing devices viewed as a server on thenetwork. More detail on these technologies and example operations isprovided below.

Referring to FIG. 1, conceptual diagram 100 illustrating interactionsbetween an email related application, mailbox, and data resiliency layeraccording to embodiments for implementing data resiliency policy, isillustrated.

As discussed above, large amounts of data is replicated in modern emailsystems in various virtual and physical locations, sometimes indifferent countries or continents. Due to the size of data to bereplicated and system resource considerations (bandwidth, memory,processing capacity, etc.), replication is typically performedasynchronously. In many systems, the data replication solution(s) andthe application(s) providing the data to be replicated are independentfrom each other. It is not uncommon for the data to be provided to amailbox from an application external to the email system, processed by amail service/application, and replicated by yet another applicationworking in conjunction with the mail service/application.

Thus, the application providing the data may not know whether a dataresiliency policy is being satisfied and continue to provide the datawasting system resources. In a system according to embodiments, dataresiliency layer 104 acts as an intermediary between the independentdata resiliency solution (data resiliency policy 106) and theapplication 102 providing the data to be replicated. Email dataresiliency policies may include options like no resiliency, one morecopy, multiple copies, one copy at a different geographical location,one copy with lag, etc. These policies may be defined within thecapabilities of the data resiliency layer 104 and natively managed bythe administrators responsible for data resiliency.

Application 102 may check with data resiliency layer 104 prior to and/orfollowing the delivery of the data to mailbox 108 and receive aconfirmation that the data resiliency policy 106 has been satisfied ornot. If the policy is satisfied, application 102 may continue itsoperations (e.g. continue providing more data). Otherwise, application102 may provide a failure notice to the user, wait until the policy issatisfied, or perform other actions.

Data resiliency layer 104 may provide one or more APIs to enableapplication 102 to query data resiliency layer 104 regarding the dataresiliency policy satisfaction. According to some embodiments, same setof APIs may also be used to throttle multiple applications in order toreduce the load on the data resiliency layer 104.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating major physical components ofan email system where a data resiliency layer according to embodimentsmay be used to notify an email related application about satisfaction ofa data resiliency policy during operations.

In an example system, such as the one shown in diagram 200, user 212 maycommunicate with a mail service over network(s) 214, which may includethe Internet. To ensure security, firewall 216 may be employed betweenthe network(s) 214 and mail service 220, which includes the serversexecuting various applications associated with the mail service.

Mail service forest 220 may include directory servers 222, which enableadministrators to assign policies, deploy software, and apply criticalupdates to an organization. Directory servers 222 may store informationand settings in a central database. Directory servers 222 may managenetworks of computing devices varying from a small installation with afew computers, users and printers to tens of thousands of users, manydifferent domains and large server farms spanning many geographicallocations. A data resiliency policy managed by directory servers 222 maybe implemented by an external or internal data replication solution suchas log shipping, hardware based solutions, and comparable ones.

Mail service forest 220 may also include mailbox servers 224 managingthe mailboxes, public folders, and data replication solutions. Mailboxservers 224 may employ local or remote data storage to store mailbox andother data. Another group of servers that may be included in mailservice forest 220 is client access/hub servers 226. Client access/hubservers 226 may manage email related applications, protocols, and mailservices for user 212, as well as route communications. Data replicationsolutions may be managed by mailbox servers 224.

In addition to managing various protocols for the mail service, clientaccess/hub servers 222 may also execute or coordinate execution ofexternal applications. Such applications may include archiving services,search tools, import/export tools, and similar ones. On top of dataprovided to mailbox(es) by the email related applications, data to bereplicated may include any data moved between mailboxes, mailboxes andpublic folders, and so on. Data resiliency policy defines which portion(or all) of the data is to be replicated, how frequently it is to bereplicated, to where (destination) the data is to be replicated, andsimilar parameters. Data resiliency policy may also specify theseparameters based on data type. For example, some data may be replicatedat certain frequency to select locations, while other data may bereplicated at different frequency and possibly to other locations.Mailbox servers 224 ensure the policy is complied with.

In a system according to embodiments, a data resiliency layerimplemented in one of the mailbox servers may interact with the datareplication solution determining the current status of data resiliencypolicy in response to a query from an application providing data. Thedata resiliency layer may then provide that information to the queryingapplication.

The example system of FIG. 2 is for illustration purposes, and does notconstitute a limitation on embodiments. A system implementing policydriven distributed data resiliency may be implemented in any system withfewer or additional physical and software components. Moreover, theapplications and services discussed above may be executed by otherservers, in other configurations, using the principles described herein.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating major software components ofan email system where a data resiliency layer according to embodimentsmay be used to notify an email related application about satisfaction ofa data resiliency policy during operations.

In diagram 300, user 312 communicating over network(s) 314 and throughfirewall 316 is routed by the client access/hub services 340 of mailservice forest 320. Mailbox services 350 manage mailboxes 352, publicfolders 354, and data replication solution 356. Mailbox services 350 mayalso manage local storage (358) of email data. Client access/hubservices 340 manage protocols 344 and email related applications 342 inaddition to mail services 346. Examples of applications 342 may includesearch applications, import/export applications, archive applications,and comparable ones. Applications 342 may generate or import dataassociated with user 312's mailbox(es), some or all of which may have toreplicated according to data resiliency policy 336. Directory services330 manage user configurations 332, service configurations 334, and datareplication policy 336. An example of directory services 330 is ActiveDirectory® service of Microsoft Corp. of Redmond, Wash.

Mailbox services 350 may also manage enforcement of data resiliencypolicy 336 by implementing a data replication solution 356 orcoordinating with an external data replication solution. Applications342 may be agnostic and not care about the data resiliency policy atall. Alternatively, applications 342 may care about the data resiliencypolicy at different levels. For example, one application may beinterested in knowing whether or not the policy is satisfied, whileanother application may ask for more detailed information regarding theenforcement of the data resiliency policy.

In an example scenario, a data import application may provide importeddata to mailbox service 350, and need to know whether the date wassuccessfully written and replicated according to the data resiliencypolicy before deleting the data at the source. In this example scenarioand similar ones, a data resiliency layer executed by the mailboxservices 350 (or by another service) may act as an information clearinghouse providing applications 342 manageable options for data resiliencypolicy 336. Depending on the information needed by each application,administrator/user/otherwise manageable options may be set and the datareplication solution queried for the status of the data resiliencypolicy implementation each time an application requests information. Byproviding the policy satisfaction information to the application, thedata resiliency layer enables the application to take actions such asrepeating a data write, waiting before another data write, issuing afailure notification, and similar ones.

Since some of the applications 342 may not be able to communicatedirectly with the data replication solution, standardized APIs may beemployed by the data resiliency layer. This way, the applications to donot need to be configured to communicate with the data resiliency layeror the data replication solution. It simply needs to utilize one or moreof the available APIs to query the data resiliency layer.

While the example system in FIG. 3 has been described with specificcomponents such as routing services, public folders, etc., embodimentsare not limited to systems according to this example configuration. Anemail system employing data resiliency through data resiliency layer maybe implemented in other systems and configurations employing fewer oradditional components. Furthermore, embodiments are not limited to emailsystems. Indeed, any networked system implementing data replicationbased on a data resiliency policy may implement a data resiliency layerfor interacting with data providing applications using the principleddiscussed herein.

FIG. 4 is an example networked environment, where embodiments may beimplemented. A platform providing data replication services within emailsystems may be implemented via software executed over one or moreservers 418 such as a hosted service. The platform may communicate withclient applications on individual computing devices such as a server413, and a laptop computer 412 or desktop computer 411 (‘clientdevices’) through network(s) 410, 420, and 430.

As discussed above, modern email systems include many aspects andcomponents such as mailbox/public folder services, data replication, andrelated applications data push data into the system. Servers 418 mayexecute these different aspects centrally or in a distributed fashionand interact through one or more of the network(s) 410, 420, and 430.

A service or an application executed on client devices 411, 412 orserver 413 may attempt to push data into the mailbox of a user as partof an email related operation. A data resiliency layer as discussedabove may act as intermediary between the service or application and adata replication solution associated with the mailbox (e.g. executed onserver 414), determine whether a data resiliency policy for the mailboxis satisfied, and notify the service or application such that theservice or application can adjust its operations accordingly. Replicateddata may be stored in one or more locations such as data stores 416.

Network(s) 410, 420, and 430 may comprise any topology of servers,clients, Internet service providers, and communication media. A systemaccording to embodiments may have a static or dynamic topology.Network(s) 410, 420, and 430 may include secure networks such as anenterprise network, an unsecure network such as a wireless open network,or the Internet. Network(s) 410, 420, and 430 may also coordinatecommunication over other networks such as Public Switched TelephoneNetwork (PSTN) or cellular networks. Furthermore, network(s) 410, 420,and 430 may include short range wireless networks such as Bluetooth orsimilar ones. Network(s) 410, 420, and 430 provide communication betweenthe nodes described herein. By way of example, and not limitation,network(s) 410, 420, and 430 may include wireless media such asacoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media.

Many other configurations of computing devices, applications, datasources, and data distribution systems may be employed to implement anemail system with policy driven distributed data resiliency.Furthermore, the networked environments discussed in FIG. 4 are forillustration purposes only. Embodiments are not limited to the exampleapplications, modules, or processes.

FIG. 5 and the associated discussion are intended to provide a brief,general description of a suitable computing environment in whichembodiments may be implemented. With reference to FIG. 5, a blockdiagram of an example computing operating environment for an applicationaccording to embodiments is illustrated, such as computing device 500.In a basic configuration, computing device 500 may be a mailbox servermanaging mailbox operations as part of an email system and include atleast one processing unit 502 and system memory 504. Computing device500 may also include a plurality of processing units that cooperate inexecuting programs. Depending on the exact configuration and type ofcomputing device, the system memory 504 may be volatile (such as RAM),non-volatile (such as ROM, flash memory, etc.) or some combination ofthe two. System memory 504 typically includes an operating system 505suitable for controlling the operation of the platform, such as theWINDOWS® operating systems from MICROSOFT CORPORATION of Redmond, Wash.The system memory 504 may also include one or more software applicationssuch as program modules 506, mail service 522, and data resiliency layer524.

Mail service 522 may perform various email related operations includingreceiving data from related applications such as those discussed before.In order to provide such applications information about whether or notdata resiliency policies associated with the mailbox and/or specificforms of data are satisfied, data resiliency layer 524 may beimplemented in conjunction with mail service 522 (e.g. as one or moreAPIs) as discussed above. This basic configuration is illustrated inFIG. 5 by those components within dashed line 508.

Computing device 500 may have additional features or functionality. Forexample, the computing device 500 may also include additional datastorage devices (removable and/or non-removable) such as, for example,magnetic disks, optical disks, or tape. Such additional storage isillustrated in FIG. 5 by removable storage 509 and non-removable storage510. Computer readable storage media may include volatile andnonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any methodor technology for storage of information, such as computer readableinstructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. Systemmemory 504, removable storage 509 and non-removable storage 510 are allexamples of computer readable storage media. Computer readable storagemedia includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory orother memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or otheroptical storage, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magneticstorage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store thedesired information and which can be accessed by computing device 500.Any such computer readable storage media may be part of computing device500. Computing device 500 may also have input device(s) 512 such askeyboard, mouse, pen, voice input device, touch input device, andcomparable input devices. Output device(s) 514 such as a display,speakers, printer, and other types of output devices may also beincluded. These devices are well known in the art and need not bediscussed at length here.

Computing device 500 may also contain communication connections 516 thatallow the device to communicate with other devices 518, such as over awired or wireless network in a distributed computing environment, asatellite link, a cellular link, a short range network, and comparablemechanisms. Other devices 518 may include computer device(s) thatexecute communication applications, other directory or policy servers,and comparable devices. Communication connection(s) 516 is one exampleof communication media. Communication media can include therein computerreadable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other datain a modulated data signal, such as a carrier wave or other transportmechanism, and includes any information delivery media. The term“modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of itscharacteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode informationin the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communicationmedia includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wiredconnection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and otherwireless media.

Example embodiments also include methods. These methods can beimplemented in any number of ways, including the structures described inthis document. One such way is by machine operations, of devices of thetype described in this document.

Another optional way is for one or more of the individual operations ofthe methods to be performed in conjunction with one or more humanoperators performing some. These human operators need not be collocatedwith each other, but each can be only with a machine that performs aportion of the program.

FIG. 6 illustrates a logic flow diagram for process 600 of notifying anapplication about compliance with a data resiliency policy according toembodiments. Process 600 may be implemented as part of an email systemthat facilitates data replication.

Process 600 begins with operation 610, where a query is received from anapplication pushing data to the mailbox. The flow of operations shown inprocess 600 may be executed multiple times by the application, forexample, during a pre-check, during data push, at the completion of adata push, and similar stages. The data resiliency layer, in response,checks the data resiliency policy against the current replication statusat operation 620. This may be done by communicating with a datareplication solution, which may or may not be an integral part of theemail system.

At decision operation 630, a determination is made whether the dataresiliency policy is satisfied. If the policy is not yet satisfied, theapplication may be notified as shown in operation 650 and/or furtherchecks against the current policy performed. When the data resiliencypolicy is not satisfied, the application can choose to wait, to retry,or fail the current replication job. This, the application maytransition into a wait mode, repeat the data write, or cancel itsoperations and provide a failure report depending on the response.According to some embodiments the application may be enabled to defineone or more parameters associated with the implementation and queryingof the DRP.

If the policy is determined to be satisfied at decision operation 630, aconfirmation may be sent to the querying application at operation 640such that the application can proceed to its next steps (e.g. checkingthe requirements when accepting jobs, checking the status before everybatch of data being moved into a mailbox, etc.).

The operations included in process 600 are for illustration purposes. Anemail service with policy driven distributed data resiliency capabilitymay be implemented by similar processes with fewer or additional steps,as well as in different order of operations using the principlesdescribed herein.

The above specification, examples and data provide a completedescription of the manufacture and use of the composition of theembodiments. Although the subject matter has been described in languagespecific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to beunderstood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed asexample forms of implementing the claims and embodiments.

1. A method to be executed at least in part in a computing device forimplementing policy driven distributed data resiliency, the methodcomprising: receiving a first portion of data from an application for amailbox; receiving a query at a Data Resiliency Layer (DRL) from theapplication providing data to the mailbox; querying a Data ReplicationSolution (DRS) as to whether a Data Resiliency Policy (DRP) is satisfiedregarding the first portion of the data provided by the application; ifa confirmation response is received from the DRS: providing anaffirmative reply to the query from the application based on theresponse from the DRS; and continuing to receive additional portions ofthe data from the application for the mailbox; else: receiving a failureresponse from the DRS, wherein the reply includes one of a confirmationindication and a failure indication depending on the received response;performing one of: repeating a data write; transitioning into a waitmode until a confirmation reply is received; and cancelling the datawrite and reporting failure.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: querying the DRS, receiving a response, and providing thereply to the querying application during at least one from a set of: apre-check, a data push, and following a completion of a data push. 3.The method of claim 1, further comprising: employing at least oneApplication Programming Interface (API) to communicate with theapplication.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the at least one API isfurther utilized to throttle a plurality of applications providing datato the mailbox such that a load on the DRL is reduced.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the response from the DRS includes detail informationassociated with the DRP, and the method further comprises: providing thedetail information associated with the DRP to the querying application.6. The method of claim 1, wherein the DRL is configured to providemanageable options associated with the DRP to the application.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the options associated with the DRP aredefined by at least one of: an administrator and the applicationproviding the data.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the DRL is part ofan email system and the application includes one of: a searchapplication, an archiving application, a database application, a dataimport application, and a data export application.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the DRP defines at least one from a set of: a frequencyof data replication, a location of data replication, a type of data tobe replicated, a number of copies to be replicated, and a type of copiesto be replicated.
 10. A system for facilitating data replication inelectronic mail services implementing policy driven distributed dataresiliency, the system comprising: a first server performing actionsincluding: manage Data Resiliency Policy (DRP) associated with at leastone mailbox managed by the system; coordinate enforcement of the DRPthrough a Data Replication Solution (DRS); a second server performingactions including: manage interactions of an application providing datato the at least one mailbox with the system; and a third serverperforming actions including: manage a Data Resiliency Layer (DRL), theDRL configured to: employ at least one Application Programming Interface(API) to communicate with the application, wherein the at least one APIis further utilized to throttle a plurality of applications providingdata to the at least one mailbox such that a load on the DRL is reduced;receive a query from the application through the at least one APIfollowing a completion of a data write; request a DRP status from theDRS; if the DRP status is confirmed: notify the application such thatthe application is enabled to continue providing data to the at leastone mailbox subsequent to confirming the DRP status; else: perform oneof: repeating the data write; transitioning into a wait mode until aconfirmation reply is received; and cancelling the data write andreporting failure.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein DRL is furtherconfigured to confirm the DRP status in response to one of: theapplication attempting to write search data to the at least one mailbox,the application attempting to write archive data to the at least onemailbox, the application attempting to write imported data to the atleast one mailbox, and data being attempted to be moved betweenmailboxes.
 12. The system of claim 10, wherein the DRS is at least onefrom a set of: an externally implemented software solution, anexternally implemented hardware solution, and a program executed at thefirst server.
 13. The system of claim 10, wherein the second server isconfigured to execute a plurality of applications providing data to theat least one mailbox and further configured to coordinate interactionsof externally executed applications providing data to the at least onemailbox.
 14. The system of claim 10, wherein the DRL employs a pluralityof standardized Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that areutilized to throttle data writes from a plurality of applications inorder to reduce a load on the DRL.
 15. A computer-readable memory devicewith instructions stored thereon for implementing policy drivendistributed data resiliency, the instructions comprising: receiving aquery through at least one Application Programming Interface (API) at aData Resiliency Layer (DRL) from an application providing data to amailbox following a completion of a data write, wherein the at least oneAPI is further utilized to throttle a plurality of applicationsproviding data to the mailbox such that a load on the DRL is reduced;querying a Data Replication Solution (DRS) as to whether a DataResiliency Policy (DRP) is satisfied regarding the data provided by theapplication, wherein the DRS manages asynchronous replication of dataassociated with the mailbox as defined by the DRP; if a confirmationresponse is received from the DRS: providing a reply to the query fromthe application based on the affirmative response from the DRS such thatthe application is enabled to complete a data write; else: receiving afailure response from the DRS, wherein the reply includes one of aconfirmation indication and a failure indication depending on thereceived response; and performing one of: repeating the data write;transitioning into a wait mode until a confirmation reply is received;and cancelling the data write and reporting failure.
 16. Thecomputer-readable memory device of claim 15, wherein the data isprovided to the mailbox in steps, and the DRL is configured to query theDRP prior to a first step, after each step, and following the last stepof data writes.
 17. The computer-readable memory device of claim 15,wherein the instructions further comprise: enabling the application todefine at least one parameter associated with the implementation andquerying of the DRP.
 18. The computer-readable memory device of claim15, wherein the replicated data is provided to at least one of themailbox and an associated public folder over the Internet.